Spacey and Quinto Getting a "Margin Call"

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Among the films looking for a deal at Cannes this year, before the festivals even starts, is "Margin Call," with Zachary Quinto and Kevin Spacey co-starring in a film that takes a look at the start of the current financial crisis.

"Margin Call," the work of first time writer-director J.C. Chandor, "tracks eight people at a prominent investment bank in a tumultuous 24-hour period during the early stages of the financial crisis," according to Deadline Hollywood.

Quinto, whose Before The Door is producing, hasn't done much of anything since "Star Trek," so it will be interesting to see if he can move beyond the hyper stoic persona he's developed playing first Sylar on "Heroes" and the Spock.

As for Spacey, it's been quite a while since he really brought something to the table. But he's got a proven track record as any number of the types you might expect in a film about the world of finance: the tyrannical boss ("Swimming With Sharks"), the nebbishy office manager ("Glengarry Glen Ross"), the greasy salesman ("The Big Kahuna"). Who knows, maybe he'll finally get the "K-Pax" monkey off his back.

Speaking as someone who in another life made literally thousands of margin calls, the title makes me a little a queasy as trading on margin had very little, if anything to do with the current crisis.

One could make a not-very-good argument that margin calls played a role in the Internet boom-bust at the beginning of the 21st century, but not the mess we're in now.